Get Involved!

Coffee Hour

Each week we need two volunteers to bring a couple items each. Volunteers, please try to coordinate so we avoid doubling up on dishes and to make sure there is enough. If you’re interested, sign up on this Google Doc. Please let Claire know if you have difficulty accessing it.

A few notes:

Not a big cook? Not a problem! Try bringing hummus and chips, fruit, veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, or the many other tasty things that don’t require cooking. Ask Claire or Rebecca if you need inspiration.

You’re welcome to bring whatever you’d like to eat, but keep in mind that several members of our community are gluten/ lactose intolerant. Also keep in mind the Orthodox fasting schedule.

Please make sure to mark down the dates you sign up for so you don’t forget. Make sure to consider your travel/school schedule as you decide when to sign up.

If you get the urge to bring something on a day you’re not signed up, feel free! The purpose of the schedule is to make sure we have a minimum, not to prevent spontaneous people from exercising their whims

Prosphora

Use the joy you find in baking to serve the church!

Prosphora is the holy bread used during communion in Orthodox churches.

If you’re interested in making prosphora for our parish, please first carefully read and adhere to the steps in the following Google Doc:

Start by mixing 4 c. white flour, 2 c. whole wheat flour, the yeast, and the salt in a large bowl.

Add 4 c. warm water (to activate the yeast) to this dry mixture. Stir the contents of the bowl until the flour, etc. is completely saturated with water. Your mixture should look somewhat like pancake batter.

Now, add the rest of the flour, cup by cup, stirring as you go along. At some point, the dough will begin to get too thick to stir properly — you probably won’t have added all of the flour yet. When this happens, use some of the remaining flour to dust the surface you’ll be working on.

Scoop the dough out of the bowl onto this surface. Then, slowly knead in the rest of the flour. Note: you may need slightly more or less flour to attain the proper dough consistency — George explains this part of the process well on his Byzantine Style Prosphora website:

the proper consistency is judged by pushing the well-mixed dough ball with a finger up to the second knuckle. If the dough sticks to the end of your finger but not the sides, you have the proper consistency. The dough, if folded over and pushed, should “heal” and not remain two pieces. Yet, it shouldn’t stick to lightly floured, smooth surfaces. Add flour as you knead until you get the right consistency. This takes practice!

Once you attain this consistency, mold the dough into a spherical shape, plop it in the bowl you were using earlier, cover it with a clean, dry towel, and let ‘er sit and rise. Set the bowl in a relatively warm area (~80°F) , make the sign of the cross over it, and go do something else lovely for about an hour.

When you come back, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Note: use about 2/3 of the dough for the large loaves and set aside 1/3 for the small loaves.